Community Sports

Peninsula wins state fastpitch championship

The Peninsula girls fastpitch team won the school’s first state championship in the sport, beating Snohomish 4-1 to win the Class 3A title at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey on May 27.

Alli Kimball pitched a complete game, her fourth in two days at the tournament, and hit a three-run home run to provide the winning margin.

The Seahawks (28-2) didn’t lose to a 3A opponent all year, with their only two loses to quality Class 4A teams. The Panthers (27-4) had won 27 straight games against 3A opponents this season with their other three loses to 4A teams, as well.

Trading runs early

The two teams’ play in the championship game was fastpitch at its finest. Defensive gems were on display, like Peninsula right fielder Mira Sonnen’s diving, head-first catch in the fourth inning. Or a leaping catch by the Snohomish pitcher that turned into a double play in the bottom half of the inning.

The Seahawks jumped out to a 1-0 first inning lead when junior Malia Coit, who has been on fire in the postseason, swatted a fastball over the fence for her 10th home run of the playoffs.

Snohomish tied the game on Avery Clark’s RBI double in the fifth inning. With two runners on the Panthers were threatening to bust the game open, but the Seahawks got exceptional defense from Grace Estabrook, Kimball and Kallee Wagee, who stabbed at a ball at third base and threw to first for a out.

Kimball takes over

The score was tied into the top of the sixth inning, when Seahawks senior catcher Haley Ruckle sparked a rally with a single into right field.

Senior Glory Estabrook followed that with a hot shot up the middle. Ruckle beat an errant throw to second base, and the Seahawks had two runners on with one out and Kimball up to bat.

Kimball is well-known for her pitching but overlooked for her power at the plate. If she could knock in a run to get her team the lead, the fate of the game would be back in her right arm.

She did more than just get a hit. She launched a high fly ball that kept carrying out to left field as a Snohomish player looked into the sun and stretched out her glove. The left fielder collided with the temporary outfield fence, lost her balance and fell over the fence. The ball landed outside of the park for a dramatic, three-run home run and a 4-1 Peninsula lead.

Alli Kimball pitches during the state tournament. Photo courtesy Peninsula High School

Velocity ticks up

Kimball, who was in the circle pitching her fourth complete game in two days, took care of things from there. With a three-run cushion, she didn’t have to be careful. She could just challenge the Panthers and let the adrenaline rush fuel her fast ball.

“I was a little worried about her in the fifth, she’s pitched so much lately,” coach Mike Paul said. “But after hitting the home run, her velocity rose 5 miles an hour on the gun in the last two innings, she turned it up.”

Great athletes often have another gear and Kimball clearly shifted into overdrive, not allowing a Panther baserunner over the last two innings while striking out three of the final six batters.

With the Seahawk crowd in a nervous frenzy in the bottom of the seventh, Kimball got a couple of ground outs to the Eastabrook sisters before ending the game by catching a line drive for the final out that secured the state title.

She immediately threw her glove high in the air after the catch and was mobbed by her ecstatic teammates. Her autistic brother Joey jumped for joy and clapped wildly as several Seahawk fans wiped away tears while watching him and the team celebrate.

Best ever

The moment put the cherry on top of the high school career for Kimball, a senior who will play at Western Washington next year. She’s done it all, she’s thrown multiple no-hitters, perfect games, won three South Sound Conference pitcher of the year awards as well as earned two all-state nominations.

Kimball struck out 599 batters in her three years of competition, more than any pitcher in Peninsula history. She was in the running for the Gatorade National Player of the Year award last season and finished her career going 4-0 at the state tournament while pitching all 28 innings and hitting the game-winning home run to win a state title.

“She will go down as not even arguably, the best player that has ever played at Peninsula,” Paul said. “She’s the strikeout king, our leader and after she hit the home run, she just said we’re not going to lose, this is our game and I’m going to finish it.”

“This feels amazing, we really came out to play today, we wanted it so bad,” Kimball said. “We didn’t have any errors today, this was such a huge win for us.”

‘Pretty damn good’

After the game the close-knit team spent several minutes together hugging, crying and celebrating.

“It feels pretty damn good, I’m not going to lie,” Coit said. “I knew we had a chance to do this, I wasn’t sure but I knew our team is so close and that’s what put us over the top. We played for each other and all just stayed so relaxed out there.”

First baseman Ava Miranda, who made several nice plays in the field, echoed those sentiments. “This feels really great,” she said. “I’m just really proud of my school. I’m just really happy, this will go down in history.”

Gig Harbor eliminated

Earlier Saturday, Peninsula advanced to the state title game with an 11-6 semifinal win over Roosevelt. Before that, Peninsula defeated cross-town rival Gig Harbor, 8-0, on May 26.

The Tides rebounded from that loss to defeat Timberline, 8-5, in a consolation round game late Friday. They were eliminated from the tournament with a 7-6 loss to Bonney Lake on May 27.